As part of EastEast's Music issue, we are highlighting an episode of a series titled The Owl’s Legacy. The series originally appeared on European television and was subsequently unscreened for decades due to its critique of modern Greece. The episode is primarily focused on the singular, iconoclast composer Iannis Xenakis; unlike many of his interviews, which often focus on his specific musical approach, here the Romanian-born Greek-French avant-gardist discusses his personal connections to music as both an ancient and evolving phenomenon.
What defines music? Soldiers marching in tandem create rhythms. Orthodox priests don’t simply speak when performing the liturgy, they chant and sometimes sing; the hammer banging on a board is not that different from the tug of a rope ringing a church bell.
In Greek mythology, Athena (whose symbol is the owl) invents music. This episode focuses primarily on composer Iannis Xenakis and singer Angelique Ionatos, as they delve into the multi-faceted natures of music, its intimate connection with the rhythms of the natural and human worlds, and the interface between technology, natural sound, and musical composition.
Directed by enigmatic and brilliant documentary essayist Chris Marker, The Owl’s Legacy is an intellectually agile, engaging, and sometimes biting look at ancient Greece, its influences on Western culture—and how many eras have reinterpreted the Greek legacy to reflect their own needs.
Each of the 13 episodes of the series is centered on a potent Greek word: from “democracy” and “philosophy” to “mythology” and “misogyny.” Marker convenes and films symposia—meals featuring wine and thoughtful conversation—in locales including Paris, Tokyo, Tbilisi, Berkeley, and an olive grove on the outskirts of Athens. Footage from these banquets is interspersed with archival materials and interviews (often featuring a stylized or distorted owl image looming in the background). Marker’s diverse group of informants includes composers, politicians, classicists, historians, scientists, writers, filmmakers, and actors. Together their contributions form a compelling (and sometimes contradictory) cultural and historical exploration for each theme.
After screening on European television, The Owl’s Legacy was unavailable for decades—the result of objections from funders the Onassis Foundation, who took offense at comments made in the series about modern Greece. Now it has been restored and is finally being released. The Owl’s Legacy continues to serve as a powerful reminder of the ongoing impact of ancient Greek culture and the ways in which we continually recast it to suit our beliefs.
The text is republished from Icarus Films.
